A tribute to and catalogue of the works of Alexander "Hugin" Wieser, founder of ambient black metal band Uruk Hai and many other side-projects, including Hrossharsgrani, Hrefnesholt, Elisabetha, B-Machina, Ceremony of Innocence and more!
Here you will find my thoughts on his work and details on the releases as drawn from items in my personal collection, forming a fuller catalogue of his work than is currently available elsewhere online

Thursday, 11 August 2016

NEO-FORM III [V/A]

Band: B-MACHINATitle: Neo-Form III [Various Artists]Format: A free download on the Neo-Form label (Germany) originally dating from 2009, cat ref NF3, and comprising MP3 tracks. A mixture of modern classical, industrial, ambient, and/or neofolk genres from the seventeen bands featured. The compilation is still available for free download today (see text).Edition:unlimited

Here's another one of those online download compilations that occasionally creep up on Nazgul and tempt him into the darker corners of the Internet.

This 2009 example came courtesy of Neo-Form, a German online magazine based out of Leverkusen in Germany . According to their legacy site, the magazine had been active for a long time, organising and presenting events, publishing music and journalistic material and creating a lasting social network among members of the Neofolk/Industrial/Avantgarde scene. Even though the magazine has been defunct for some time, the free online compilations are still being distributed through several hosting sites, with information about them being disseminated through their website.

The rather sad reason for the decline of the magazine is reportedly the "complete data loss caused by a server migration and two unreliable webmasters in a row" - a sad story indeed.

However, you can still download this compilation (and also Volumes I and II in the series) from here, and Nazgul would endorse such a free resource in the interest of exploring all manner of new music and artistic styles. Well done, Neo-Form, your spirit lives on!

Our interest is piqued by the inclusion at track 8 of none other than B-Machina (the later day more upmarket neofolk version of Bonemachine, if you will!) and an intriguing track called 'Other and Forgotten Visions'. Intriguing as there has not been a track by this name yet recorded in Honour and Darkness. However, those of you with an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Hugin will recall the 2008 mini album release "Other Visions" by B-Machina, which contained but two songs: 'Other Visions' (running time 2.18) and 'Forgotten' (2.20). Stitch them together, sprinkle on some fairy dust, and bish-bosh-bash ladies and gentlemen, there you have it, a 'new' song!

Rather handy too, really, given the the original mini album only came in a run of 17 copies so probably went under many people's radars back in the day (and where, realistically, are you going to find a copy for sale anywhere eight years later?!)Revisiting Nazgul's original review of this one, it reads: "Track 1 'Other Visions' kicks off with an effect that sounds equal parts horses on the move and/or magma escaping the earth's crust, before the most delicate of guitar interludes appears over the top. Equally, on second track 'Forgotten' the guitar is right at the front of the mix over a gentle synth background, at times strident and full-on like a Mexican stand-off in a classic spaghetti western and at times gossamer-thin and a thing of beauty."

Makes you want to dig out your copy and give it another spin, doesn't it!